HSBC Holdings Plc<\/a> is planning to overhaul its Singapore operations by combining its major banking services under one entity to streamline the structure, according to people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\nThe move would essentially bring HSBC\u2019s local wholesale, retail and private banking operations under one roof, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter.<\/p>\n
HSBC has been on a major restructuring drive over the past two years since Georges Elhedery took over as chief executive officer in September 2024. The CEO has shut down, merged and sold several businesses in an effort to simplify the bank\u2019s business and reduce costs.<\/p>\n
In July, the lender agreed to sell its Singapore insurance unit for $2.1 billion.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe continue to review our organizational structure for opportunities for simplification,\u201d an HSBC spokesperson said. \u201cAll of our Asia-Pacific banking entities remain under the ownership, management, and resolution structure of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd, and there is no plan to make any changes to this.\u201d<\/p>\n
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In May 2016, HSBC locally incorporated its retail banking and wealth management business in Singapore under HSBC Bank (Singapore) Ltd. It also operates a separate branch through The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp, the lender\u2019s main Asia entity. The lender is continuing to invest in the city-state, with plans to establish a global AI center and hire more than 100 artificial intelligence specialists.<\/p>\n
Among global banks, HSBC has the largest exposure to Hong Kong, which is the lender\u2019s biggest source of profits. It expanded its footprint in the city this year after completing a $14 billion privatization of Hang Seng Bank Ltd. It even serves as one of the city\u2019s three commercial note-issuing lenders.<\/p>\n
HSBC\u2019s footprint in Singapore is dwarfed by its Hong Kong business. Singapore generated $774 million in pretax profit during the first half of 2026, compared with $7.8 billion from Hong Kong. The bank employs more than 30,000 staff in Hong Kong, where wholesale lending reached $144 billion in the first half. In contrast, it has roughly 3,600 employees and $21.8 billion in wholesale loans in Singapore.<\/p>\n
HSBC\u2019s corporate structure moves aren\u2019t without precedent. In 2019, rival Standard Chartered Plc consolidated its operations into a locally incorporated subsidiary, creating dual hubs in Singapore and Hong Kong to simplify its network and trim costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This Jan 28, 2021, file photo shows an HSBC Holdings Plc bank branch in Singapore. (PHOTO\/BLOOMBERG) HSBC Holdings…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[20667],"tags":[20688,41948,46072,9881,46073,20122,44228,9783,20690],"class_list":["post-111969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hsbc","tag-georges-elhedery","tag-hang-seng-bank-ltd","tag-hongkong-and-shanghai-banking-corporation-ltd","tag-hsbc","tag-hsbc-bank-singapore-ltd","tag-hsbc-holdings-plc","tag-hsbc-hong-kong","tag-singapore","tag-standard-chartered-plc"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117165891553352381","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/eee6f25831023a32a0920bfb6914bb22.jpg\"\/)
This Jan 28, 2021, file photo shows an HSBC Holdings Plc bank branch in Singapore. (PHOTO\/BLOOMBERG)<\/p>\n